The woes of poultry farmers seem to have been aggravated with the challenge of low patronage reported across markets, hawkers and road side vendors during this yuletide season.

This was evident during the Christmas celebration, as there were live chickens everywhere but little or no buyers, despite a drop in the price of these poultry products.

Recall that in the last one year, the poultry industry has been in dire straight due to challenges like high cost of feeds, coupled with increased price of fuel, the inflation rate, and other factors caused by the current administration’s economic policies.

While many farms were shut down, others were running skeletal operations, as others moved to other line of businesses, due to their inability to cope with the hardship faced by the industry.

This development forced incessant review of price of eggs and other poultry products. For instance, a crate of eggs sold between N1500 and N1700 in January 2024, is currently selling as high as between N6000 and N7000, and chickens rising from around N10, 000 to N30, 000 plus..

A fortnight ago, The Guardian’s market survey on chickens showed that the price of live chickens was still increasing, majorly due to high cost of feeds, as a matured broiler was selling between N30, 000 to N35, 000, Noiler breed – N20, 000, while old layers sell for between N12, 000 and N14, 000.But due to low customer turnout, the traders were forced to lower the prices.

In one of the markets in Fagba area of Lagos, The Guardian learnt that an average size broiler, previously sold between N30, 000 and N35, 000 has dropped to N25, 000. This, according to reports also affected other breeds across market in major cities in the country.

But seems a paradox is that despite the price cut, traders are lamenting there are no buyers, as a lot of Nigerian homes lack the purchasing power.

In some of the major markets visited in Lagos and Ogun states–Oko-Oba Abattoir, Agege; Oja-Oba; Ishaga; Ile-Epo; Iyana-Ipaja; Sango; Oshodi; Arigbajo, and Ifo among others, live chickens of different breeds were seen in cages and car trunks waiting endlessly for buyers.

A poultry farmer based in Ikorodu, Lagos, Mr. Samson Mathew, described the development as a nightmare.

“The situation this year is devastating and below expectation. Surviving the challenges facing the industry was by miracle and we had anticipated that this December, our sales should be able to cover up a bit but what first came like a blow was cutting the price when there was no patronage. Look at it now, despite the price slash, I can count the number of customers that visited for Christmas purchase.

“Despite the high cost of live chickens last year, going as high as N40, 000 to N45, 000, we still enjoyed reasonable patronage but this year, the price has dropped, yet, no purchasing power from Nigerians. I am afraid, this situation may force many out of this business because the cost of feeds is increasingly weekly,” he said.

For Alhaja Bukunmi Odeyemi, a live chicken vendor at the Oja-Oba market, though the patronage has been moderate but not really encouraging because of extra expenses of feeding the chickens since buyers are not forthcoming as expected.

“The old layers are always experiencing good patronage but they are always cheaper, going for between N12,000 and N15,000, compared to broilers and noilers, but despite this, I still have a large stock of old layers, waiting to be purchased. We have been unable to restock like as the practice at this period of previous years. We just hope that things will change before the New Year. “